Q&A #156

I can't believe Kam actually allows that spider shirt in your house :)
I know, right?! LOL Ironically, that's Keeghan's most favorite shirt ever. He calls it his Itsy Bitsy Spider shirt. LOL

Last year about halfway through the year I had to write out a morning routine with times I expected it to be done by. I'm a little surprised you haven't done that. Anyways, it worked for a little while, but then we would forget.
Well, I actually HAD a chart for last year too, but it wasn't as specific and, like you, half way through the year we kind of stopped using it. This year, we will stick to it. Dang it. LOL Kass and Kam actually really seem to like it!

Do they get that dirty at school that they need a second shower :)
LOL No, that's why I put "If needed". Sometimes they shower at night and sometimes in the morning, depending on how busy we are and their mood. They asked me too what was going to happen to their rooms to get it messy between the time they go to bed and the time they wake up in the morning, but HEY, you'd be surprised! LOL

I love some of these back to school ideas & may use them if thats ok with u. Its just me and my 2 girls cause daddys always on the rd working.Im gonna have the whole day to myself and need to get organzied a lil but...
TY Renee... What types of suppers do u find easy to fix for the kids during the school yr so u r not standin in the kitchen for hrs.
Don't mind at all! We do a lot of Schwan's stuff. I am NOT a good cook... I hate to cook. I hate the time and mess it takes to cook. I don't buy meat from Schwan's because it's quite expensive, but I love some of their other meals. We do their Six Cheese Tortellini (then I just buy marinara sauce to go over it), and they just brought out a new cheese ravioli that the kids just tried and LOVED! We like their 5 cheese garlic bread, their chicken enchiladas, they have a great spinach and mushroom pasta which only Kennedy and Keeghan and I will eat. (Kass and Kam liked it until they figured out they were eating spinach, and Kellsey can't have it because of the tomato sauce) so that's become a lunch time food for us now! LOL We buy their chicken fries, their mini corn dogs, and a lot of their breakfast stuff. Their toaster waffles, mini pancakes, and apple french toast sticks are all really good... or so my kids say! We also love their veggies. They come in a ziplock bag and you pour out just the amount you need. Their corn is delicious and so sweet! My kids also love their peas and they have broccoli and cheese that's really good. Their asparagus is awesome too, but that's something I only buy when Frank is home. If you scroll back through my Q&As there are a lot of other Schwan's recommendations as well. With Frank gone, I find we do a lot of quick and easy kid friendly food. I'm sure that will all change once he comes home! ;)

so how is all of the special ks doing with school? how's Kennedy? have u started the homeschooling yet? do u have her sit there for six hours like school or is the homeschooling day gonna be shorter? just wondering...love ur blog (:
They are doing great!
Kassidy and Kameron both love their teachers and have had a great start to their year. Kassidy, being a 5th grader, gets a "job" being a 5th grade helper. She had to choose a job and interview for it and she now helps one of the Kindergarten teachers every morning as soon as she gets to school. She is thrilled! She's been talking about doing this since last year. :) I went to school and had lunch with both of them last week, which is always fun. I'm just glad they like me to come eat with them! :o)
Keeghan is enjoying Mother's Day Out. A spot opened up in the 3 day program so he is now going Monday, Wednesday and Friday instead of Tuesday and Thursday. This gives me more time to focus on Kennedy's schooling. He really likes his teachers and is enjoying the "jobs" he gets each day too... last week he was the line leader. :)
Kellsey is still enjoying school as well. She really likes her teacher and is warming up to the kids there. She is happy to go to school each day and happy to be picked up when I go to get her. Her teachers always talk about how sweet she is and she's becoming more and more vocal there... but no one knows what she's saying! haha She's FINALLY napping at school, which is a good thing because before she wouldn't sleep at all!
Kennedy is doing well, we have done some introductory stuff and gotten ourselves organized. I have my lesson plans done up till October now and we are ready to go! I was planning on starting this week, but our trip to California has thrown that just a little. I AM taking some school work with us so we're unofficially starting, but I'm not going to adhere to the strict schedule that I will once we are at home. Our homeschooling day will most likely be shorter, by law we have to do school for 4 hours every day and we should easily be able to get all our work done in that time. It goes by MUCH faster when you're one on one. :) I plan on blogging about a lot (but not all of course) of what we do with pictures and/or video once we really get going.

oh & one more question, when does frank get home for R&R? im sure the kids will be excited to see him! srry for all the questions!!! :)
He'll be home the beginning of November for R&R which is 2 weeks. He will be here for Kassidy, Kameron and Kellsey's birthdays! :) We are very excited about that and can't wait for him to get here!!!

I love your blog and your kids' names. How did you pick them? DId you start out with having a pattern for all their names or did it just happen? Sorry if this is a repeat(i.e. it's been asked and answered).
I actually did a series of posts on this... You can find them here:
The Art of Naming My Kids Part 1
The Art of Naming My Kids Part 2
The Art of Naming My Kids Part 3
The Art of Naming My Kids Part 4
I guess I need to add a Part 5 now, though Part 4 really explains it all! haha

And Renee, as far as Kellsey's fear of characters I have an idea of how it might help her to get over that. As you might know I'm a professional clown. I don't get to do it all that much because of the kids, but I've done it at a few school events. One of the teacher's granddaughter was terrified of clowns. So what I did was show her a picture of myself dressed as a clown and told her that it's just me with makeup on. I showed her the makeup and let her touch it. She is no longer terrified of clowns. She goes right up to them. So if you can I'd find someone who dresses in costume and let them show her it's just dress up. Halloween might be a scary time for her this year if you don't find a way to make her more comfortable with it ;). She might still be too young though to really get it, but it is worth a try. Then again it might be a good thing that she's so afraid of people in costume ;). Someone else I knew I had offered to do the same thing for and she refused because she liked her child being afraid so he wouldn't go off with a stranger just because they were dressed up in a costume. Personally I thought that was a bit extreme, but to each his own, right?
That's a good idea... she's never seen a clown. Frank is scared of them too! haha I imagine Kellsey wouldn't like them much. I wish I knew someone who dressed up... If I remember right, she didn't even like Santa last year. I KNOW she didn't like the Easter Bunny. I'm more worried about her going off with strangers not in costumes than ones in costumes. She really would go off with just about anyone, especially men. So scary.

Hi there! I have been following your blog for some time and finally decided to write... :-) Your family is beautiful and I love the way you respond to questions. So, I have one for you! Do both of your daughters have "full" Downs Syndrome or does your little one have a mosaic form? I ask because everyone that meets my little girl asks if she has Downs (even Drs.). Genetics test indicate that she doesn't but they didn't test enough cells to determine if she has a mosaic form... I can't decide if I want to put her through that test. She has mild ataxic Cerebral Palsy and the delays that happen with that are similar to those with Downs....
Anyway - I was just curious! Thanks so much for sharing your family! Sesame place looks like fun and we are planning a trip there soon!
Kennedy and Kellsey both have regular Trisomy 21. We too wondered if Kellsey might have Mosaic Down syndrome, but we had her Karyotype done not long after she came home and it came back the same as Kennedy's. I was glad to know, for no other reason that just knowing... and I think it's so neat to see the chromosome studies on paper. I have both of the girls karyotypes saved in case they ever want to see them some day. Good question! :)

When do you leave for your grandfather's funeral?
Tomorrow afternoon.

Renee I am cracking up! There are photos of my little brother in the same pose as Kameron, arms cross, standing on the outside of the characters. Hilarious! I might have to send you a picture.
LOL That's the, "I want to think I'm too cool for characters, but I really still want to meet them" pose! hehehehe

Love the pics of Sesame Place! I am wondering about Kennedy's swim dress. I noticed it one other time and just wonder if it is a fashion thing or if there's any other reason she wears that rather than a regular swim suit?
I just saw it and thought it was cute. :) Came from Target. She actually has a few others too, but that one's her favorite... because it makes her look like a Sincess. :)

Note: Hey Jemma, I did get your question, but my answer became REALLY long, so I'm going to dedicate a whole post to it soon. Watch for it!